Optical Fluoride Nanoceramics

This paper examines methods for the fabrication of optical fluoride nanoceramics and the compaction behavior of precursor powders. We discuss the basic drawbacks to the ceramics under consideration from the viewpoint of the physicochemical properties of fluorides. Lasing in ceramics has been demonstrated in the visible (praseodymium) and IR (neodymium, erbium, thulium, and ytterbium) spectral regions. The advantages of optical ceramics include the possibility of preparing large-aperture samples with improved mechanical characteristics and the presence of their own set of defects, including extensive polysynthetic twinning, which leads to the formation of new optical centers.